Bayer MaterialScience in dialogue with leading players in apparel and footwear

Materials incorporating INSQIN® waterborne PU technology provide benefits for consumers as well as for manufacturing and sustainability

Leverkusen, March 2015 – Bayer MaterialScience is helping the apparel and footwear industry to address its key challenges in two ways: with its INSQIN® waterborne PU coating technology and a new form of collaboration with customers along the value chain. The company is now presenting these topics at two key industry events: the Northwest Apparel and Footwear Materials Show March 10 and 11 in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., and the Prime Source Forum March 24 and 25 in Hong Kong.

The apparel and footwear industry is facing more challenges than ever before. On the one hand, global consumers get more and more demanding in terms of expecting new experiences through design and functionality, while on the other, brand owners must deal with the complex value chain in their enormous industry as well as mounting cost pressure and ambitious commitments regarding the sustainability of their products.

Bayer MaterialScience is convinced that new materials will provide answers to many of these challenges. This is true not just for product innovations benefiting consumers; the developments also harbor opportunities for fundamental improvements in manufacturing and sustainability.

A good example of this is INSQIN®. Launched in 2014, the brand represents a new kind of technology for the coating and finishing of fabrics and synthetic leather. Such polymer-coated materials are already used in apparel and footwear to enhance properties and provide more functionality. The INSQIN® technology can do even more, radically changing the look and feel, functionality, design and even manufacturing. Particularly in production, the technology also enables an entirely new degree of sustainability that encompasses both ecological advantages and resource conservation. This is a level that the apparel industry has not been able to meet until now.

Bayer MaterialScience is convinced that the innovative potential of this development can only be fully leveraged in a direct dialogue between all of the industry contributors, particularly between key technology suppliers and brand owners.

“We are happy to be able to help leading companies in the apparel and footwear industry not only with their product innovation, but also with their sustainability aspirations”, said Nick Smith, Global Head of Textile Coatings at Bayer MaterialScience. “As a player in the chemical industry, we are making our technical expertise available directly to the brand owners while also working together with coated fabric manufacturers.”

This is a different form of collaboration than the traditional cooperation along the linear value chain. The new partnerships are enabling consumer products that could not be found before. “Combined with our INSQIN® Partner Manufacturer Program, this approach is convincing more and more brand owners to work with us,” said Smith.

About Bayer MaterialScience:With 2014 sales of EUR 11.7 billion, Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2014, Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employed approximately 14,200 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.

This news release is available for download from the Bayer MaterialScience press server at www.press.bayerbms.com.

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